Truong Thi May Appointed Miss Universe Vietnam 2013

Update on October 11, 2013: Truong Thi May has been officially granted the permit to represent Vietnam at the upcoming Miss Universe 2013 pageant. The delay is due to problems related to her high school diploma. At the time of her crowning as the first runner-up of Miss Vietnam Ethnicity 2007, May hadn’t graduated from high school yet. However, the 25-year-old beauty confirmed that she has earned the General Educational Diploma (the equivalence to high school diploma). It took time for the Department of Performing Arts to verify this.

This is the first ever seen photo of Truong Thi May wearing the sash that says Miss Universe Vietnam 2013.

Truong Thi May has been selected by Unicorp, the license holder of Miss Universe Organization in Vietnam, to represent the country in the upcoming Miss Universe 2013 pageant, scheduled for November 9th, 2013 in Moscow, Russia.

This information was confirmed by Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chuong, head of the Department of Performing Arts under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism – the Agency responsible for licensing Vietnamese representatives in International beauty pageants. Speaking to a local newspaper, he said the Ministry had received the application for Truong Thi May from Unicorp. Procedure for issuing the license is underway.

Truong Thi May is 25 years old and stands 1.72 m. She was the former first runner-up of Miss Vietnam Ethnicity 2007. She was also the former runner-up in Miss Vietnam Photogenic 2006 pageant. May was appointed twice to represent Vietnam in Miss Earth pageant but missed both chances. In 2009, she had an accident just ahead of the contest. In 2011, she refused the invitation from Thanh Nien Corp., citing her busy schedule for acting and her grandmother’s sickness.

Rumors about May’s participation in Miss Universe have been circulating over the Internet for months. Several days ago, Miss Universe Vietnam 2012 Vu Hoang My statused on her Facebook account that she “is flying to Nha Trang for the Miss Universe Vietnam 2013 Charity Golf Tournament and visit the children at the Khanh Hoa Child Support Center with former Misses Universe Vietnam and this year’s Miss Universe Vietnam”. Meanwhile, Truong Thi May shared a status on her Facebook that she was present at the airport heading for Nha Trang.
Vu Hoang My later added that this year’s Miss Universe Vietnam is a beauty with a dark complexion and very nice personality.
It is clear enough to guess who has been selected!
According to the Thanh Nien News, May was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1988 to Khmer-Vietnamese parents. May grew up in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, where much of Vietnam’s Khmer population lives. She has been practicing austere Buddhism and following a strict vegetarian diet since she was 13.
Every morning, she begins her day at 4, performing 108 kowtows and reading prayers.